Men's Basketball Headline

GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Playing at the University of Florida and being coached by Billy Donovan
gave Bradley Beal the greatest basketball experience of his life. So great, in
fact, it was almost too good to leave so soon.

Almost, but not quite.

Beal,
the first-team All-Southeastern Conference guard, will announce Friday morning
he is foregoing his sophomore season with the Gators to enter the NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder will leave the Gators as one of the most decorated
freshman in the UF history -- and with a ceiling that pro scouts believe is
high as the O’Connell Center's dome.

“It’s
my dream and it’s sitting right here in front of me,” Beal told GatorZone. “God
has put me in this situation and I have to take advantage of it. I think I’m
ready to realize this dream, so now I have to go and pursue it.”

Beal, projected as a lottery selection in the June 28 draft, struggled with the
decision, going back and forth in the nearly three weeks since the Gators'
season ended with a loss to Louisville in the NCAA West Region title game at
Phoenix. He went home to St. Louis the weekend after the season was over to
meet with his family and returned to have a series of meetings with Donovan over
the last two weeks.

On
Monday, Beal came to Donovan’s office and -- fighting back tears -- told the UF
coach his mind was made up.

“It
was just so hard to come in here the other day and tell Coach that I was
leaving,” said Beal, who won’t turn 19 until June. “I got very emotional when I
was telling him. I love this place. I love this program. I really bought into
the whole experience. I may not have had the best [season] I could have had,
but in terms of just fun and enjoying the game it could not have been any
better.”

Donovan
said he never used his influence to try and sway Beal either way, but instead
spoke of the pros and cons of both paths.

“He’s
as mature a kid at this age as I’ve ever been around,” Donovan said. “I really
gave him a lot of space since the season ended. I don’t think he was influenced
by anybody. I don’t think anybody got to him. He kept his circle really small
and took time to think about what was in front of him, looked at every single
factor. It took a long time for him to get to that [decision] point because
there were such compelling reasons for him to stay here.”

The
reasons included expanding his game, improving his shot and taking on a
leadership role.

In
the end, the lure of realize his NBA outweighed everything else.

“It
was probably the toughest decision I ever had to make,” Beal said. “Harder than
choosing where I was going to play in college.”

We
know how that turned out. The 2011 Gatorade National Player of the Year and
McDonald’s All-American out of Chaminade Prep lived up to his billing as a
rookie.

Beal
started all 37 games for the Gators and led the team in minutes at 34.2, while
finishing second in scoring (14.8 points per game) -- on 44.5 percent from the
floor and almost 34 percent from the 3-point line -- and first with 6.7
rebounds per game. He also shot 76.9 percent from the free-throw line.

When
the Gators went to the postseason, Beal took his game to the next level.

In
two Southeastern Conference Tournament games and four NCAA Tournament games,
Beal combined to average 16.5 points, making 53 percent from the floor and
nearly 46 percent from long-distance, to go with eight rebounds and 3.7
assists.

“The
NCAA Tournament run was incredible, just a blast,” he said.

The
way Beal started to grasp the game and tap into his buffet line of skills,
Florida fans envisioned big things for next season with a team led by a more
seasoned, more confident and a bigger, stronger "RealDealBeal."

Instead,
that version will be in Sacramento, Portland, Charlotte or some NBA venue that
is selecting very high in the draft. NBA Draft Net projects Beal going seventh
overall. Hoops Report has him fifth. Bleacher Report puts him fourth. ESPN
draft analyst Chad Ford lists Beal as the No. 3 overall prospect behind only
Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of national-champion Kentucky.

“It
kind of smacks you in the face when you actually see that stuff,” Beal said. “I
really didn’t pay much attention to it during the season, but once the season
was over and I started looking at it, it all sort of hits you; makes you pause
and kind of soak it all in.”

He
smiled.

“But
those are just projections,” Beal said. “Just someone guessing.”

Yes,
but within those projections exists a reality for the 18-year-old kid who
arrived in Gainesville have already drawn comparisons to Ray Allen.